Cash dispenser with reject dump means

ABSTRACT

In automatic banknote dispensing apparatus, a banknote access module comprises an enclosure which can be fixed in the outer wall of a bank and within which is a platform mounted to pivot about a fixed axis between a first position, in which it receives banknotes from an inlet aperture in the enclosure and is accessible to a customer when a door of the enclosure is unlocked following a correct delivery of notes to the platform, and a second position in which it ejects notes from the enclosure through a reject outlet aperture, for example following an incorrect delivery of notes. A shroud formed integrally with the door blocks the banknote delivery inlet aperture when the door is open.

This invention relates to automatic banknote dispensing apparatus of thetype adapted to deliver a predetermined sum of money.

The invention has special, but not exclusive reference, to a dispenserof the customer-operated type and which for example may be arranged todispense sums of money through an external wall of a bank to a customeraccess station.

Problems arise when handling used currency notes because of theirindeterminate condition and consequently it is usual in such dispensersto provide safety means to prevent incorrectly fed banknotes fromreaching a user. Such safety means normally include a "double detector"device of known type which may be arranged to divert superposed, orpartially adhered together, banknotes from the delivery flowpath and/orto control an escrow device (viz. an internal storage means which isadapted to store temporarily banknotes until the initial feedingoperation has been completed). In such a system a stored stackcontaining incorrectly fed banknotes is diverted to a reject container,and thereafter, a repeat feeding cycle is initiated.

An example of such apparatus is to be found in British Pat. No. 1 459854, in which banknotes fed from a delivery belt are stacked temporarilyon a platform connected to an elevator belt the platform then beingmoved downwards on the belt to a position in which the banknotes may beremoved by a user through an access door after which the platform isagain carried on the belt up to the receiving position. In the event ofan incorrect delivery, the stack of banknotes is rejected into a bin bytilting the platform, and the cycle is repeated. However, this apparatusis necessarily bulky because the first position of the platform is abovethe banknote access door.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a banknote accessstation having reject facilities and which is of a simple and compactconstruction such that when it is fixed to a banknote delivery meansonly the enclosure of the access station need project through the wall.

The invention consists in a banknote access station for an automaticbanknote dispenser having means for generating signals indicative of acorrect delivery of banknotes and an incorrect delivery of banknotes,the banknote access station comprising:

an enclosure having an inlet aperture to permit the entry of banknotesfrom a banknote delivery device in the dispenser, a door providingaccess to the enclosure and a reject outlet aperture;

a platform mounted within the enclosure, for reciprocating pivotalmovement about a fixed axis between a first position and a secondposition, at a location such that in its first position the platformreceives and supports banknotes fed from the inlet and is accessible toa user when the door is open for removal of the banknotes from theplatform, and in its second position banknotes are ejected from theplatform through the reject outlet aperture;

locking means to secure the door in a closed position; and, controlmeans for releasing the locking means to allow opening of the door inresponse to a signal indicative of the completion of a correct deliveryof banknotes to the platform and relocking the door after removal of thebanknotes by the user, the control means being responsive to a signalindicating an incorrect delivery of banknotes to the platform to causethe platform to pivot from the first position to the second position toeject the banknotes and thereafter to return to the first position.

Such a banknote access station can be built in very compact form andwhen access to the dispenser is through a wall, the hole formed in thewall need only be large enough to accommodate the said enclosure. Forsecurity purposes in such a compact device a cover is preferablyarranged to block the inlet aperture when the door is open.

The cover may take the form of a shroud formed integrally with the doorto move over and block the inlet aperture as the door is moved to itsopen position. Advantageously, the door is pivotally mounted on ahorizontal axis and occupies substantially the full width of theenclosure.

In the preferred embodiment, the door is biased to its closed positionby gravity. Also in this embodiment, after a correct delivery ofbanknotes to the platform, re-locking of the door is delayed for apredetermined period to facilitate the removal of the banknotes by theuser.

Preferably, the platform is adapted to pivot between the first andsecond positions such that it is caused to move from its first positionby gravity in one direction to its second position, and is returned byrotating means under power in the opposite direction to its firstposition.

The user may accidentally leave some or all of the banknotes on theplatform, and in the preferred embodiment there is an infra-redphotoelectric device sited below an aperture formed in the platformwhich provides a signal to the control means when banknotes or otherarticles are present on the platform. The control means then dumps thecontents of the platform, for example at the end of the predeterminedperiod for removal of the banknotes.

The control means may be of any convenient form but preferably itcomprises a programmed microprocessor adapted to receive signals from acounter/doubles detector associated with the dispenser and thereafter tosequence control the operation of the door locking andplatform-actuating driving motors in accordance with signals derivedfrom the above-mentioned presence and position detector means.

In order that the invention may be better understood, one example of abanknote dispenser incorporating the invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings; in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a part of a cash dispenser, in the formof a customer access module of a cash dispenser, incorporating thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the left hand side of the module shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the right hand side of the module shown inFIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate different positions of a cam and cam followerwhich is shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a section through a tiltable platform, forming part of themodule shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 7 is a simplified form of circuit diagram;

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate diagrammatically the way in which the accessmodule may be incorporated in a cash dispenser in an outer wall of abank and shows an outlet flap in closed and open positions respectively.

To enable a better understanding of the use of a banknote access stationembodying the invention reference will first be made to FIGS. 8 and 9.In FIG. 8 a customer access module 10 is shown bolted by means ofattachment lugs 40 to a wall 41 of a safe which is located against anouter wall or facia of a bank so that the front wall of the module 10 islocated in an aperture 44 in the outer wall 42 of the bank. The frontaperture 12 of module 10 is normally closed by an access door in theform of a pivoted outlet flap 13. Within the module 10 is a supportplatform 15 pivoted on a fixed axis 9, for reciprocating movementbetween a first position, shown in FIG. 8, and a second position. Theplatform is so located in the device 10 that in its first position itreceives banknotes from an inlet aperture 52 and supports them to form astack. Below the platform 15 is a reject outlet aperture 45 throughwhich rejected banknotes may fall into a reject box 46 when platform 15is tilted, as indicated by arrows 47 on FIG. 9, to the second (vertical)position.

The banknote dispenser 53 is otherwise of conventional construction andincludes a banknote conveyor 48 with conventional rollers 49 and guides50 which convey notes along flowline 51, through inlet aperture 52 intothe access module 10. Because of the compact construction of the device10, the inlet aperture 52 is opposite and quite close to the frontaperture 12 and a shroud 43 integral with the outlet flap 13, isarranged to obscure aperture 52 when flap 13 is open and thereby toprevent access to the feeder mechanism (see FIG. 9).

In FIG. 1 is shown a more detailed front elevation of access module 10which comprises a strong steel box-like structure 11.

The outlet flap 13 is partially counterbalanced but its lower portion 14is thickened and is of considerable weight so as to ensure that when itis released from the position shown in chain-dotted line in FIG. 2, itwill always fall under the influence of gravity to the position shown infull line.

The outlet flap 13 can be locked in the closed position by flap lockingmeans comprising a rotary detent member 18 (FIG. 2) which has a notch ordetent 18a arranged to cooperate with a pivoted flap-locking lever 19,which is urged by a spring 21 into the detent 18a but can be pivotedcounter-clockwise by the rotation of a cam 20, driven by a motor.

When the correct amount in banknotes has been dispensed into the modulea signal tells the cam motor to drive the cam 20 which rotates andreleases the lever 19 from the detent member 18 thus enabling thecustomer to lift the access flap 13 and remove the banknotes.

When the banknotes have been removed and the flap 13 has returned to itsclosed position the motor which drives the cam 20 receives a signal tocontinue until the cam 20 allows the lever 19 to re-engage with thenotch or detent 18a in the detent member 18 under the influence ofspring 21 and thereby to lock the door in the closed position.

The closure of the flap 13 prevents damage to the platform 15 and thedispenser access module generally due to corrosion, vandalism, etc. Theflap 13 is released only to allow a customer who has completed atransaction to remove banknotes from the platform.

If a banknote remains on the platform 15 after release of the door itwill be detected by an infra-red presence detector 22 which "sees" thebanknote through an aperture 23 (FIG. 6). This will cause a signal to besent to the motor operating cam 20 to inhibit operation of the motor andprevent locking of the flap 13.

The platform 15 is fixed on a shaft 16 so as to be tiltable between thehorizontal position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 and the vertical positionshown in FIG. 4, in which position incorrectly dispensed banknotes orobjects placed on the platform by customers are ejected from the modulethrough the reject outlet. When the infra-red sensor 22 detects suchbanknotes or objects through aperture 23 in the platform 15, a signal issent to a dump motor 24 (FIG. 3) which, via a belt 24a, drives a pulley25 in the direction indicated by arrow X. Pulley 25, which runs freelyon shaft 16, has fixed to it a driving pin 25a. A notched wheel dumpcatch 26 is also pinned to the shaft 16. The pulley 25 and notched wheel26 normally rest in the position shown in FIG. 3 with driving pin 25a inthe position marked A.

When a "dump" signal is received, the motor 24 drives the pulley and pin25a anti-clockwise (as seen in FIG. 3) and firstly releases a dumplatching lever 27 which is pivoted at 28 and biased anti-clockwise by aspring 29. Release of latching lever 27 enables the dump platform 15 topivot clockwise, due to gravity, into the vertical position shown inFIG. 4. Pin 25a is now in position B.

The motor 24 continues to rotate the pulley 25 until pin 25a engages aspring loaded drive tooth 30 pivotally mounted on the notched wheel 26but held in position against a cam surface 32 by a spring 31. Thereafterthe notched wheel 26 rotates with the pulley 25 lifting the platform 15as it goes until position C (shown in chain dotted line in FIG. 3), isreached. The latching lever 27 then re-engages dump catch 26 to lock theplatform 15 in its horizontal position and the drive pin 25a then startsto overcome the spring 31 and to rotate the tooth 30 until drive pin 25areaches position D (See FIG. 5). Once it has passed this point the drivetooth 30 snaps back into its normal position where it is restrained byengagement with the cam 32. The drive pulley continues on until drivepin 25a reaches its rest position A.

Thus, once during every revolution of the dump motor 24 and pulley 25the platform 15 falls from a horizontal position (FIG. 3) to a verticalposition (FIG. 4) thereby dumping any banknotes on the platform 15through aperture 45 (FIGS. 8 and 9) into box 46, and is then driven backto a horizontal position (FIG. 5).

FIG. 7 is a very much simplified electrical circuit diagram of thesystem. It shows the door-operating motor 20' for the cam 20 and themotor 24 operating the tiltable platform together with a portion ofplatform 15 and infra-red reflecting detector 22.

If anything is present on the platform 15 the detector 22 produces asignal which operates two relays 33 and 34. Relay 33 closes switch 35 inthe circuit of the dump motor 24 so that when a dump switch 36 is closedthe dump motor will operate. Relay 34 opens a switch 37 in the circuitof the access flap motor 20' so that when flap operating switch 38 isclosed the flap motor will not operate. Relocking of the access flap maybe delayed by introducing a delay device in the electrical circuit.

Thus, it is possible to operate the dump sequence if there is anythingpresent on the platform 15 but it is not possible to lock the accessflap.

Detectors (e.g. of a conventional infra-red type) may be provided todetect the positions of the detent member, the flap locking lever andthe latching lever.

Signals derived from these detectors and from a conventionalcounter/doubles detector associated with the dispenser may be used tocontrol the sequence of operations of the flap-locking andplatform-actuating driving members under control of a programmedmicroprocessor (not shown).

A banknote access station according to this invention is therefore ableto provide access to a correct delivery of banknotes reliably, and has avery compact design which is particularly advantageous when access is tobe made through a wall in the bank.

We claim:
 1. A banknote access station for an automatic banknotedispenser having a banknote delivering device, the banknote accessstation comprising:an enclosure formed with an inlet aperture and areject outlet aperture; means within the enclosure for receivingbanknotes from the delivery device through the inlet aperture, thebanknote receiving means being formed by a platform pivotable between afirst position, in which the platform receives and supports banknotesfed from the inlet aperture and also is accessible to the user when thedoor is open, and a second position in which banknotes are ejected fromthe platform through the reject outlet aperture, in the case of anincorrect delivery; a door to the enclosure giving a user access to theplatform; locking means to secure the door in a closed position; controlmeans for controlling the movement of the platform and the operation ofthe locking means, the control means operating after each dispensingoperation either to release the locking means to allow the user to openthe door and remove the banknotes or to cause the platform to pivot soas to eject any banknotes thereon along a reject path and thereafter toreturn the platform to its first position; and an inlet aperture coverformed integrally with the door and moving with the door to block theinlet aperture when the door is moved to its open position and tounblock the inlet aperture when the door is returned to its closedposition.
 2. A banknote access station in accordance with claim 1,wherein the platform is adapted to move by gravity in one direction fromits first position to its second position, when released by the controlmeans, the control means including rotating means for driving theplatform in the opposite direction back to its first position.
 3. Abanknote access station in accordance with claim 1, comprising, forlocking the platform in its first position, a notched member fixed tothe platform and a spring biased latching lever for engaging the notchedmember.
 4. A banknote access station according to claim 1, comprising,for locking the platform in its first position, a notched member fixedto the platform and a spring biased latching lever for engaging thenotched member, and wherein the rotating means for driving the platformback to its first position also serves to free the latching lever fromthe notched member.
 5. A banknote access station according to claim 1,further comprising a banknote presence detector which provides a signalto the control means when banknotes or other articles are present on theplatform.
 6. A banknote access station in accordance with claim 1,wherein the door is pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis and occupiessubstantially the full width of the enclosure.
 7. A banknote accessstation in accordance with claim 1, wherein the door is biased to itsclosed position by gravity.
 8. A banknote access station in accordancewith claim 1, further comprising a detent member fixedly mounted topivot with the door and a spring biased pivoted door locking lever forengaging with the detent member to lock the door in its closed position.9. A banknote access station in accordance with claim 8, including amotor-driven cam adapted to withdraw the door locking lever from thedetent of the detent member, to unlock the door.
 10. In an automaticbanknote dispenser for dispensing to a user a predetermined sum of moneyand having counting and incorrect feed detection means; the improvementcomprising: banknote delivery means; a cash access station, adjacent thebanknote delivering means, including an enclosure having an inletaperture positioned to permit the entry of banknotes from the banknotedelivering means, a door providing access to the enclosure, an inletaperture cover formed integrally with the door and moving with the doorto block the inlet aperture when the door is moved to its open positionand to unblock the inlet aperture when the door is returned to itsclosed position, and a reject outlet aperture; a platform mounted withinthe enclosure for reciprocating pivotal movement about a fixed axisbetween a first position, and a second position, at a location such thatin its first position the platform receives and supports banknotes fedfrom the inlet and is accessible to a user when a door is open forremoval of the banknotes from the platform, and in its second positionbanknotes are ejected from the platform through the reject outletaperture;locking means to secure the door in a closed position; andcontrol means for releasing the locking means to allow opening of thedoor in response to a signal indicative of the completion of a correctdelivery of banknotes to the platform and relocking the door afterremoval of the banknotes by the user, the control means being responsiveto a signal indicating an incorrect delivery of banknotes to theplatform to cause the platform to pivot from the first position to thesecond position to eject the banknotes and thereafter to return to thefirst position, and means mounted adjacent the reject outlet aperturefor receiving banknotes ejected from the cash access station when theplatform is pivoted to its second position.